Cinnamon, Cassia, Type 2 Diabetes and Your Health

This is the second article in a short series about Indian curry spices and your health. The first article was titled “Is Turmeric a Spice or a Medicine?” and you can read it here.

A fair number of articles have appeared on the Internet about the use of cinnamon to treat Type 2 Diabetes.

Cinnamon is a spice that is made from the bark of a tree in the Lauaraceae family.

Cassia is also a spice made from the bark of a tree.

Both spices have similar flavours and are very difficult to tell apart when in their powdered form.

And, to confuse matters even more, Cassia is often labelled and sold as being Cinnamon.

Studies have been carried out in treating patients suffering from Type 2 Diabetes with Cassia.

The treatment has proved to reduce the blood sugar levels in people who have Type 2 Diabetes (Type 2 Diabetes is having too much blood sugar, or an insensitivity to blood sugar, whilst Type 1 Diabetes is having too little blood sugar). This is very good news for the estimated 170 million people who suffer from Diabetes.

The study that is often quoted was carried out in Pakistan and, as well as reducing blood sugar levels; the treatment also reduced levels of LDL (the bad cholesterol).

And more good news is that the Cinnamon/Cassia can be taken in tea, drinks and lots of foods (just think how many things you can eat and drink that contain cinnamon).

And the magic of cinnamon doesn’t stop with Diabetes. There are claims that cinnamon can be used to treat stomach upsets, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, angina, hypertension, kidney problems, menopausal symptoms, infections and even the common cold.

Go the following links to read more on the medicinal uses of cinnamon. Or use your favourite search engine to unearth the information for yourself.